Some Gifts Don't Require Wrapping
by amy.werner.794
Summary: One of Amanda's Christmas Eve guests debates the wisdom of accepting her invitation.


Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is the property of Warner Bros. and Shoot the Moon Productions. I merely borrow their characters for my enjoyment, and to hopefully entertain others.

As he pulled up to the curb in front of 4247 Maplewood Drive, tiny snowflakes swirled in the breeze before melting on his windshield. Reaching to pull the key from the ignition, his hand wavered while he once again questioned the wisdom of having accepted Amanda's invitation to spend Christmas Eve with the family.

Initially, he had politely declined her invitation, but she persisted and he simply couldn't bring himself to disappoint her when his being there seemed so important to her. He'd let her down, in big ways and small, in the past. Determined to make it up to her and show her how much he'd truly changed, he'd ultimately agreed to join the festivities. Not wanting to get the evening off to a bad start by arriving late, he turned off the car, picked up the bag of gifts he'd brought and looked towards the house. He squared his shoulders and walked up the front walk very slowly. Pasting on a smile, he rang the doorbell, as the snow began to fall more heavily.

"We're all so glad that you're joining us," Dotty gushed, upon opening the door. When he hesitated to enter, she continued, "Joe King, come inside before you freeze right where you're standing." He hurried in and handed Dotty the bag of gifts that he was carrying,

"Dotty, it's very kind of you to include me again this year." He removed his coat while listening for signs of the rest of the family.

"It's important to Amanda to have you always feel welcome here." _For the boys' sake._ _It was good having you here last year, but this year…I'm not sure your being here is a good idea._ She smiled at him, but he didn't feel that she was as pleased to see him as she'd been when he'd visited in the past.

"Is Amanda in the kitchen," he questioned as Dotty took his coat.

"No, Dear, she and Lee are running late."

"Lee Stetson?" He hadn't spoken to Amanda about him since the pair had run off together during the Stemwinder case. He'd allowed himself to hope that after she'd seen how easily the Agency had turned on its own, being connected to it and Lee Stetson in particular would be less appealing. He shook his head almost imperceptibly, while he once again pondered what had possessed her to become involved in such a dangerous line of work. Just because they were divorced that didn't mean that he didn't want what was best for her, and working for the Agency struck him as a bad idea. He mentally scolded himself for falling into the old habit of assuming that he knew what was right for her. She'd told him last year that she was moving forward, and he'd suspected that she and Stetson were closer than she'd been willing to acknowledge even then.

"Joe, Joe? Are you listening to me?" Hands on her hips, and a slightly perturbed expression on her face, Dotty looked at him intently. Drawn back to the present by the insistent tone in her voice, he realized that his mind had wondered while she was speaking to him.

"I'm sorry, Dotty," he offered her a sheepish smile and continued, "my mind must have wandered-"

"A million miles away."

"No, my thoughts were much closer to home. What were you saying to me?"

"I mentioned that Amanda told me that you and Lee have already met. I wondered how well you'd gotten to know him."

"I don't know him well." Dotty drew closer to him, obviously not satisfied by such a circumspect response. Knowing her well enough to realize that she wouldn't accept such a brief answer, he quickly continued to speak. "I'm sure you'll like him when you meet him."

"The boys and I have already met him. They've been dating for a while now."

Joe couldn't help suspecting that she had no idea how long they'd actually been dating, but it wasn't his place to tell her that. He was surprised that Amanda had introduced him to her family. It was only a couple of months earlier that she'd told him that her family still knew nothing about Lee, beyond the fact that they worked together.

"Naturally, she told us about his past…so that we wouldn't ask him any unfortunate questions."

When he'd first resettled in DC, Joe had checked out Lee himself. Amanda wasn't his wife anymore, but he still wanted to know about the man she was clearly quite taken with. She could be so trusting, he reasoned, he was just acting to protect her from being hurt. He'd discovered that Stetson was a playboy and there was no way that Amanda could be unaware of his reputation. Her willingness to share that knowledge with her family shocked him.

"Amanda told you about his past," he questioned incredulously.

"Yes, she did, and it went a long way to explaining how he could be so charming one minute, and then shy and almost awkward another. Losing his parents at such a young age, and then being dragged around the world by his uncle, the poor boy."

Phillip and Jamie came thundering down the stairs, as their father assimilated this new information about the current man in their mother's life. He wasn't sure why, but he took comfort in the knowledge that there was more to Lee Stetson than he'd originally thought. He'd already felt indebted to the man who'd saved his sons from the danger that he'd inadvertently put them in, but now he had an additional reason to give him a second look. If they were in love, then he was determined to be supportive of their relationship.

Leaving the house hours later, Joe felt good about the obviously deep and loving relationship that was growing between Amanda and Lee. He'd watched them surreptitiously and was struck by their ability to communicate with each other, often without uttering a word. Clearly they connected on a deep level, and he was mostly okay with that, he just wished he knew why they were both so amused that he'd given Amanda a scarf as a Christmas gift.

Author's note: I'd like to thank Lanie for her challenge to write a holiday story that focuses on one of SMK's secondary characters.

I'd also like to acknowledge Eugenie Ross-Leming, Brad Buckner and Lloyd Pye, who wrote "Santa's Got a New Bag". This story is a filler for that episode.


End file.
